“We’ll be leaving soon. Come join me downstairs,” Charlotte said.
It was a request, not an order, but one Jamie could easily grant. He shoved aside his heart-clenching worry for his team and sternly told himself to focus on his family tonight.
Charlotte led him to the wide-open kitchen, the spotless room empty of the usual private chef in charge of feeding his family. The chef had tonight off since Leah was out with friends and he and his parents would be at the White House.
Charlotte poured them both a cup of coffee, adding some cream and sugar to hers while keeping Jamie’s black. He followed his mother out to the back garden, the late afternoon sunlight warm and bright. They sat side by side at the patio table, coffee steaming in their hands. Jamie eyed the pair of Secret Service special agents standing guard along the rear property wall. The extra security was necessary, but it felt more and more claustrophobic with every week that passed.
“I understand you’ll be taking Gabriel along as your date to the State Dinner,” Charlotte said.
“I was ordered to.”
Charlotte took a sip of her coffee. “I’ve met him once or twice before at separate engagements. He’s a brilliant young man. Well-educated, charming.”
“Mother,” Jamie said warningly.
“You haven’t dated in years, Jamie. Perhaps you should think about doing so.”
“You know why I can’t simply date just anyone, Mother.”
“I’m well aware of the constraints you put on yourself, but they aren’t healthy. This is a stressful time for everyone, and I worry about you not having someone to lean on.”
Jamie bit his tongue, thinking about how he’d woken up with Kyle in his arms that morning. His mother’s worry was severely misplaced, but he couldn’t tell her she had nothing to worry about. She couldn’t know he’d been in a serious relationship for almost two years, that he was engaged, and that the love of his life was currently waiting back at base to get eyes on their teammates so Kyle could let him know they were safe.
The tightness in his chest was hard to place for a moment before Jamie recognized the ache for what it was.
He realized hewantedto tell his mother that he wasn’t alone, that she had nothing to worry about. Jamie wanted to wipe away her concern with his words in a way he hadn’t ever been able to do since his first day at Annapolis.
Except he couldn’t.
“I have people I lean on all the time, Mother. They hold me up just fine.”
Charlotte reached for his hand, squeezing it gently. “You need someone in your life, Jamie. Someone to share the ups and downs like I do with your father. I want that for you. We both do.”
I have someone,he thought. But when Jamie spoke, those weren’t the words that came out. “I know.”
“Dating someone might soften your image. If Gabriel isn’t to your tastes, I’ve several friends with sons who might be.”
Jamie fought not to flinch at that offer. “I don’t think dating anyone right now is the right course of action.”
“It never will be if you don’t take a chance.” She patted his hand before letting him go. “The media found out about the dinner tonight.”
Jamie was grateful for the change in subject. “Did we leak the information?”
Charlotte smirked, the faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes a telltale sign she was due for a salon appointment. “Of course. We need to be a tad more ruthless, and getting ahead of the story so we can steer it in the direction we want is important.”
It wasn’t a new lesson, but Jamie let his mother explain the latest media strategy the campaign was set to roll out. Contrition for past mistakes, a resoluteness to continue onward, and the shadow ofno commentoverlying it all to give a hint of something more the media had yet to uncover. Apparently Jamie’s stonewalling at the closed session hearing was workable within the latest narrative Charlotte was building to prop Richard up.
“There you are,” Richard said sometime later from the patio doorway. “The car is ready.”
“Shall we?” Charlotte asked, arching an eyebrow at Jamie.
Jamie nodded and pushed the chair back. He got to his feet and helped his mother to hers. They left their empty coffee mugs on the patio table and followed Richard back into the mansion. Several Secret Service special agents waited for them by the front door, ready to escort them to the military-grade SUV out front.
Jamie would have preferred taking his own car to the White House so he could leave for home right after, but they had to give the appearance of one big, supportive family. Which meant he rode with his parents and kept an eye on their surroundings out of habit. Richard took a brief conference call halfway there and finished it right before their SUV pulled up in front of the White House’s security checkpoint.
After everyone’s credentials were validated, the security gate slid open and the SUV rolled up the drive that curved around the North Lawn. Daytime tours of the White House had been momentarily suspended in the lead up to the State Dinner. Only the dedicated reporters of the White House press corps were there to document their arrival.
Jamie ignored the camera flashes going off in the distance, buttoning up his dark gray suit jacket after exiting the SUV. The dinner tonight was being touted as a working meal between old friends, and while the president shouldn’t have a favorite in the presidential election race, that was all but impossible in reality.
